Bail for former city councilor reverted to PR

Bail for former City Councilor Michael Weeden has converted to personal recognizance following his acceptance into Strafford County Community Corrections as of May 28.

Weeden was indicted last month on two counts of criminal threatening and one count of aggravated felonious sexual assault.

On the social media website Facebook, Weeden called these charges “ridiculous.”

Weeden waived his arraignment at Strafford County Superior Court last Thursday.

Court orders require that Weeden shall not commit a federal or local state offense. His bail has been converted to $10,000 personal recognizance.

According to court documents, Weeden, 23, of 365 Sixth St., is accused of pointing a firearm at the victim's head in February 2012 and threatened to kill her and himself if she did not comply with his sexual requests. The two were reportedly involved in a relationship at the time.

The indictment also alleges that sometime in March 2012, he forced himself sexually on the same victim without her consent.

The criminal threatening charges are Class A felonies with potential sentences of 10 to 20 years in state prison and fines of up to $4,000 for each charge. If convicted of the aggravated felonious sexual assault charge, Weeden also faces 10 to 20 years in state prison as well as a fine of up to $4,000.

These charges are not Weeden's first brush with the law.

He was involved last December in a fatal motor-vehicle crash on Sixth Street that killed 87-year-old Martin Carignan of Somersworth. He admitted to police that his vehicle crossed the center line as he was attempting to secure his seat belt. His car collided with Carignan's vehicle and Carignan was taken to a Massachusetts hospital, where he later died.

Speed and alcohol were not considered to be factors in the crash, following an investigation by the county attorney's office, and the accident did not rise to the level of criminal charges.

An indictment is not an indication of guilt; rather, it means a grand jury believed there was sufficient evidence to warrant a trial.